The Swedish Government has announced that hauliers who break drivers’ hours rules must pay higher fines, and that foreign hauliers must pay the fee immediately.
In a statement published yesterday, Tomas Eneroth, Sweden’s Minister of Infrastructure, said the new rules are justified on the following basis:
There must be order on our roads and decent conditions for professional drivers. We now ensure that hauliers who break the driving and rest time rules have to pay increased penalty fees. It should cost a lot for companies that use their drivers. For me, it is unreasonable for companies to be able to make money on poor working conditions and poor road safety.
Eneroth also described the Swedish Government as a “leader” when it comes to the implementation of the EU mobility package. Moreover, the Minister of Infrastructure talked of why he believes the rules to be so important:
One result of the mobility package is the introduction of a clearer ban on spending the regular weekly rest in the vehicle and a requirement for hauliers to organize their activities so that drivers can return home regularly. This is important so that drivers do not have to be away from home for unreasonably long times and that he or she does not have to live in a truck while on the road. In order for this to have an impact, the government has decided to introduce sanction fees for the transport companies that do not follow the rules.
Besides increasing the fines for breaches of drivers’ hours rules, Sweden will also clamp foreign trucks guilty of these violations until the fine is paid. Eneroth said the measure was introduced to “ensure that foreign companies pay fees for regulatory violations.”
In order to be able to enforce sanction fees against foreign transport companies that violate the driving and rest time rules, the government has also decided that foreign transport companies must pay the sanction fee immediately at a roadside check. If the company does not pay immediately, the police will take measures to prevent the continued journey, for example by clamping the vehicle until the fee has been paid. This is introduced to ensure that foreign companies pay fees for regulatory violations.
According to the aforementioned statement from the Swedish Government, the rules are scheduled to enter into force on the 24th of May.
Photo credits: Calle Eklund/V-wolf / Wikimedia Commons + Trans.INFO